"Paddle" Fan
Pattern design and interpretation: Tamara P. Duvall, 2000 |
Artistıs statement: I designed the fleur-de-lis itself several years ago, but never made it up didnıt know how to use it. Then I.O.L.I. announced its fan contest and I decided that, with a few changes (a "ground" and an edging) it could very easily be converted into a fan such as is sometimes used around the Southern USA a circle (usually or paper) mounted on a single stick. I decided to make the fan in colour and call it "Southern Afternoon." I used Gutermannıs silk 100/3 in four shades of green (to represent summer, the time when fans are needed most) and two shades of blue (to represent the sky) as well as several different metallic threads in shades of gold through copper to mahogany (to represent the sunset). To make the fan useful, I stiffened two pieces of silk (cloudy-blue under the lace and dark green on the obverse) with interfacing and sewed them together, leaving an opening at the bottom for the stick. I then carved a removable stick to fit it runs all the way up the fan, acting as a hidden "backbone," with the handle part extending below. Iım quite pleased with the overall design of the fan and most of the colour choices. Iım particularly pleased with the edging and one of the braids (the dark one around the upper part of the fleur-de-lis), both of which were "custom designed" for the project. What Iım less happy about, and what I would change if I were ever to do it over, is the background. At the very least, Iıd change the colour of the upper part to white or cream and copper, letting the mounting silk act as the sky and the tallies as clouds. And I donıt like the bottom part of the "ground" at all, but the due date was approaching too fast for me to spend anymore time tinkering with the design. Another disappointment was the metallic thread I used in the light-coloured section of the fleur-de-lis; it was the perfect shade of copper but very difficult to work with, especially to tension properly. Unfortunately, the full extent of its misbehaviour didnıt become apparent until after I had removed the lace from the pillow..... |
Other views of the fan |
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